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Did Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz 'actively encourage' rioters to burn down Minneapolis?

By Tom Kertscher
NO

We found no evidence to back an attack by Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance, who alleged that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz “actively encouraged rioters to burn down Minneapolis during the summer of 2020.”

The Ohio U.S. senator’s reference Aug. 16, 2024, in Milwaukee was to violent protests, including fire being set to a police station, following the police murder in Minneapolis of George Floyd.

Protests began May 26, 2020, the day after Floyd’s death. Walz, now the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, activated the National Guard May 28. He mobilized the full guard, an unprecedented move, on May 30.

On June 1, then-President Donald Trump said “I fully agree with the way he (Walz) handled it the last couple of days.” He said Walz “called up big numbers and the big numbers knocked them out so fast it was like bowling pins.”

Vance’s spokesperson did not cite evidence that Walz encouraged rioters.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
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Wisconsin Watch, the news arm of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, increases the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.
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